The beer production process can be divided into four processes: malting, brewhouse, fermentation, and packaging. Modern breweries generally no longer have malting plants, so the malting part will also be stripped from the beer production process.
Beer production involves malting, milling, mashing, extract separation, hop addition and boiling, hop and sediment removal, cooling, and aeration, fermentation, yeast separation from young beer, aging, maturation, and packaging. The purpose of the whole process is to convert grain starch into sugar, extract the sugar with water, and then ferment it with yeast to make an alcoholic low-carbonated drink.
Malting process
Barley must go through the germination process to convert the insoluble starch contained in it into soluble sugars for the brewing process. Barley is stored for 2-3 months after the harvest before entering the malting workshop to start malting. To get clean and fine malt, barley needs to be selected or screened to remove impurities before malting.
The main process of malting is as follows: the barley enters the soaking tank to wash the wheat and absorb water, and then enters the germination box to germinate and become green malt. Malting takes about 10 days.
Brewhouse process
Materials such as malt and rice are quantified and crushed from the feeding port, and then enter the rice cooking pot and mash pot to be brewed and decomposed into fermentation liquid. Filter through a lauter tank filter press, then add hops to boil, remove heat coagulation, cool and separate.
After drying, the malt is mixed with water at 62 to 72 °C (144 to 162 °F) and the enzymatic conversion of starch to fermentable sugars is complete. The water extract (wort) is then separated from the remaining “spent” grain.
The rice cooking pot is a large convoluted metal container with inlets for hot water and steam. Stirring devices such as stir bars, paddles, or propellers, as well as many temperature and control devices. In the rice cooking pot, malt and water are heated and boiled, which is a natural acid that converts insoluble starch and protein into a soluble malt extract called wort.
Modern brewhouse systems use blended grains and mash mixers, which are mash vessels with high-efficiency agitation and temperature programming. Enzymes of bacterial and fungal origin can be added as auxiliaries. Ales and ales are mashed in the same equipment, but they must have different temperature programs and malt ingredients. Modern breweries often use high-gravity brewing, where concentrated wort is made, fermented, and diluted to allow more beer to be brewed on the same equipment.
The wort is sent to a filtering vessel called a splitter. The wort is removed from the husk in a lauter tank and hops and sugar are added before the wort is pumped into the boiler.
In a boiling pot, the mixture is boiled to absorb the flavors of the hops, developed, and sterilized. Hop-added wort after boiling is pumped into a whirlpool loud tank to remove unwanted hop residues and insoluble proteins.
Fermentation process
During this most important stage of the brewing process, the simple sugars in the wort are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide and produce a young beer. Then it matures after dozens of days.
After filtering the mature beer, the amber draft beer is obtained.
After the clean wort is pumped from the whirlpool tank, it is sent to a heat exchanger for cooling. Yeast is added to the wort, and the fermentation process begins. During the fermentation process, cultivated yeast convert the fermentable sugars in the wort into alcohol and carbon dioxide, producing beer. Fermentation occurs over eight hours and proceeds at an accelerated rate, accumulating a chemical called wrinkle of high-density foam. This foam reaches its highest stage on day 3 or 4. As the temperature decreases, the fermentation is completely completed after 8 to 10 days.
After fermentation, most of the yeast settles at the bottom of the tank. The brewers recycle this part of the yeast for use in the next pot. After removing the yeast, the resulting young beer is pumped into the post-fermenter. Here, the remaining yeast and insoluble proteins are further precipitated to mature the style of the beer. The maturation time varies with the variety of beer, generally 7 to 21 days. After post-fermentation and mature beer, all remaining yeast and insoluble proteins are filtered out in the filter, and it becomes the sake to be packaged.
Packaging process
The brewed beer is first filled into beer bottles or cans. Then, after strict inspections such as visual inspection and liquid inspection machines, they are loaded into beer boxes and shipped out.
Before packaging, each batch of beer will be sent to the packaging line after passing strict physical and chemical inspections and a sensory evaluation by sommeliers. The packaging of finished beer often has several packaging forms: bottled, canned, and barreled. Bottled beer is the most popular form of packaging.
Get the craft brewery key
If you want to become a qualified brewer, you must first understand the brewing process of beer before you can start brewing delicious beer. If you are ready to start your brewery, you can contact ACE. We can provide you with a turnkey solution for your brewery. And to provide you with professional customized services and related beer equipment solutions, ACE looks forward to cooperating with you. Get a turnkey solution for brewery equipment. If you plan to open or expand the brewery, you can contact us directly. Our engineers will design and manufacture brewery equipment according to your brewing process. Of course, we will also provide you with a complete turnkey solution. Also, if you plan to expand the brewery, we will provide you with customized solutions.
